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Itranspired the manager could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.